Role Playing Games: The 5 Mentors To Avoid

By Ryan Richardson

Here you are, your first rpg character in this exciting new text-based world! You've gone through your introduction tour, picked an awesome class and cool-sounding guild, and now...you have absolutely no idea what to do. Thankfully, Iron Realms Entertainment's rpg games have a mechanic for just that: mentors! Mentors are a wonderful way for new players to get acclimated to the role playing game realm of their choice, but it's a very important choice, and requires a lot of thought! In light of this, here's a list of rpg mentors that you should probably reconsider before asking to mentor you:

5. The Gone Fishin' Mentor

Fishing is a wonderful rpg pastime. It's quiet, calm, soothing, and, in the realms of IRE, quite lucrative. However, a mentor who regularly engages in activities that are off-plane, on a ship, or even just generally distracting can be very frustrating for a protege to get in touch with needed!

4. The Opposite Time Zone Mentor

You just met the nicest man, and after you got to know him, he offered to be your rpg mentor! You happily accept, and look forward to working with him. Unfortunately, you've not been able to find him since, at least for any length of time. He always seems to be getting ready to leave the role playing game as soon as you log in, or logs in right as you're about to leave! Time zone differences can have devastating effects on an otherwise wonderful mentorship!

3. The "You're Doing It Wrong" Mentor

Some mentors are very goal-oriented with their rpg proteges, and will push them hard to go in a certain direction. This is perfectly fine! Some, however, are pushy to the point that, in matters of preference, they'll get on their rpg protege's case for not doing EXACTLY as they said to. This tends to be especially true for role playing skill choice, which is a matter of rpg customization that should be entirely up to the protege.

2. The Sleepy Mentor

This isn't something an protege can really control, nor can a rpg mentor control it sometimes. However, I believe we've all had the frustration at one point or another of getting a rpg mentor, and then a week later having him or her vanish, never to be heard from again. We get it, issues come up sometimes. However, often it's caused by a lack of interest as much as anything else, so be wary of those who seem distant from the game!

1. The "Wanna Be My Protege?" Mentor

This is the ultimate in rpg mentor faux pas, and not someone you should take seriously. Stepping out of the role playing game intro, there will sometimes be those whose first words to you are "want to be my protege?" Now, the person could be a wonderful rpg mentor, but anyone who approaches you immediately should throw up reg flags in your head, and you're likely better off finding someone else.

Ryan Richardson is an rpg enthusiast who enjoys the best role playing games from Iron Realms!

I love being a mentor, and I think this is shown by how many proteges I have running around Sapience (in Achaea)! I try to spend time with them all one-on-one, on a regular basis, and they know I'm always just a msg away if they need me. The first things I say when a kid asks me to be their mentor is the approximate time I am usually around (during the week & the weekend) and that I can be sporadically, exceedingly busy - but that doesn't mean their needs aren't important to me. I tell them that "if at first I don't reply, try again!". As HoN, I also tend to take a large number of the "sleepy mentor" proteges under my wing. When a kid expresses concern that their mentor isn't about enough (whether from time zone issues or minor dormancy), I encourage them to keep me informed of their progess - so they are not held up on the Path. If the mentor goes completly to sleep, at that point I encourage the kid to find a new mentor.

Don't pick a mentor overloaded with proteges. Most mentors will know how many they can handle and balance against their other responsibilities, but some will take proteges just to make sure they have someone and then not be able to be there for them.

Likewise, mentors, don't be dumb. Know your limits. Mine is two active proteges. I love them both to death, but I can't even always make myself available for two. Taking on a third would be unfair to all three.

This comment may not totally pertain to the OP but I think Selira's point is vastly underrated and should be a required read for anyone mentoring proteges -- I had up to eight active proteges at one time while being deeply active myself. I was stoked to help as much as I could to these new players but as attrition kicked in (dormancy, etc), I realized it (large number of proteges) was way too much to take on.

I really like taking on a Sith approach to it; there is always two, a master and an apprentice. I won't get overloaded with time and I won't detract from someone new to IRE learning their way through the realms.

Another good tip is to have backup help from other established mentors -- there are times that timezones or obligations outside of the MUD will kill opportunities to help out your protege. Let your protege know other people he or she can go to for help if you're not available. And stress as much as you can that contacting you (as the mentor) is not an annoyance or distraction.

I think it would be exciting to be a mentor. I have often thought about taking on proteges.

Luckily I still have time to think about it as I need to advance a little further on my own before it would be safe to become a mentor. I like that in Lusternia, im not sure of other games, the guild I chose has guidelines you must meet aside from the Lusternia set guidelines before becoming a mentor.

I know a lot of people who can become mentors in Lusternia and have met the requirements. I have noticed, in most cases, the ones who choose to play and not bother with taking on proteges are actually the best mentors. Now, I am not saying all mentors with proteges are bad but, in my many cases like stated above , people seek proteges rather than letting the protege choose them.

Don't underestimate the sleepy mentor. I've accidentally done this one myself when my school schedules shifted too much, or I simply lost interest... Life's chaotic enough, but try to make sure your mentor isn't using you to keep him/her in-game. It won't work.

I believe this is still true, but I don't think that it is a 100% sure bad thing. I have mentioned it to some of the youth, but generaly it has nothing to do with the credits, but a lot more to do that I get along with someone, and if I hunt more with them, they get a bigger % of experience.

I think it is more the person who says that... as some credible people can mean it honestly, and in a clear RP way.

True, but at the same time that is somewhat of an incentive to be helpful. If your a good mentor, you'll be able to encourage them to play more and more which then leads to the possibility of them buying credits.

I definitely agree. Most of the proteges that are attracted to me are either arrogant, rude, or they want me to figure out everything for them, give them hints to all the quests I do, or try to take my attention from my other proteges who actually do need the help I can give them. :(

I'll agree to wanting to read that myself! Yet I've been lucky almost everyone that asks me to mentor have been pretty awesome! I never pick my protege's and I try to be honest with my knowledge and time, but have the most fun helping out others!

This kind of protege is around often, but prefers bedrooms to bashing grounds and is seemingly always "busy".

2. The dumb -

This protege is, as the name says, just dumb. Unable to even follow the most simple orders, he runs around attacking earth golems even after being told to probe things first several times. Often very stubborn, too, which does not really help much.

3. The emo -

All you get out of this protege is shrugging and "meh". He's never interested in anything, not bothering his tasks and there seems to be nothing you can do about it.

4. The lonely wolf -

He only picked a mentor because it was on a list of tasks to complete, but never asks anything and seemingly never needs help, even if he clearly has no idea what to do.

5. The "witty" one -

This one can be a mentor's nightmare. He finds it funny to answer in comments he considers witty and funny at that moment. Even the most patient mentor has to resist the urge to kill this protege at some point. "Do you need myrrh?" - "Thanks, I don't take drugs." - "..."

I've had to turn down proteges sometimes simply because of the time difference. I hate doing it, I really do. But if I'm on at some random time, I always ask the novice if this is the usual time for them. It's slightly OOC, but it's better to be slightly OOC and get stuff straight than roll on and leave the kid stranded.

I remember the first (and I think only) time I got credits from a protege buying them. I was quite surprised. I had no idea you got credits from mentoring. Suddenly that line in HELP MENTORS about "don't let anyone coerce you into making them your mentor" made a lot more sense.

I have always enjoyed being a mentor, but I seem to be cursed with always getting protege's who hang around for a bit, and then decide to stop playing. to date, i've only had one protege who actually went on to do anything in the game.

I've met all these types of mentors, cringing sets in a bit sometimes. I usually make sure my proteges know what the dofference is between taking me officially as a mentor and unofficially. I do not want their credits and I am perfectly fine with not knowing whether they pay for extra play or not. I explain they can also always take me as a protege to accomplish a task orientation thing and then reject me, if that is all they want. I do explain the handy walk to mentor command though because of many people I take on who can benefit from being able to. My proteges also know if they do not see me I will probably still be able to answer them and that I come directly to them... on command when they need me. Even if its just for a hug of encouragement. Next we need an article on the "Proteges not to take"! they fall into many of the same categories. I even had noe that played two other games while attempting to accomplish something in Achaea (putting me on hold constantly). There are people of many types and I am sure everyone has some sort of a great match waiting for them on which ever end they are on.

Had a great mentor in Aetolia, didn't get an official one when I started playing Achaea. I'd say it's a great resource if you're completely new to IRE games, but once you're experienced and start jumping around, guild/city resources are more than enough to keep you up to date.

... it's quite common in one little (actually, sizable) corner of MKO. Because of the detached nature of being a novice in the Mockers, a fair while back it was decided that, for each, a capable member of the guild would step up and mentor the new faces, and while the majority of that still results in 'unofficial' mentoring, it provides a great 1:1 interaction that easily leads to, if the protege wishes, making the arrangement official. Of course, that same detachment is a bit of a change from the usual 'pretty easy to follow' benefit of MKO's structure, too.

Speaking of such novices... anyone who took my big stew pot? I think it's time for another pot of stew...

I always seemed to get the opposite time zone mentor with all my alts (I'm Australian), so I never really got the mentor experience.

With Luenn, I decided to way and see who of my possible mentors were actually logging on at the same time. Unfortunately, it took more than 50 hours for me to figure it out, so I never got one. I suppose it's not like I really needed one, but it would have been nice.

Good mentors are badass. Anything not good in a mentor is sort of trying. I think the worse requirement for a guild is to have your mentor be a member of the guild. Sadly, this leads to some players unfamiliar with the game giving bad advice which can possibly ruin the experience for someone else.

Good mentors are good mentors. Let them educate new players so they can be good players later!

I am a mentor and I am willing to spend time answering or looking for answers for my protoges' questions. I even take them out to bash, but sometimes I wonder if I am being used to just be a power leveler since I am asked to go bashing with them so often. For some protoges, it's every day we meet. If so, that doesn't seem like what a mentor needs to be doing.

Like a good teacher, a mentor should teach their proteges how to function on their own. Take them bashing a few times in a new place to show them the creatures, tricks, quests, but then let them use what they've learned to do it on themselves. That's a far more valuable lesson than doing it for them. That goes along with what somebody was saying about avoiding proteges who want you to do everything for them.

Mystere suffered a long period of dormancy around age 70. Since becoming active again, he has recieved a new(unofficial) mentor in the house. She's pretty much the best thing ever. She's never too busy for him even though Mystere's practically an old man. Even though she's always wielding a fishing pole, it seems like she hangs out in the city more often than she spends on river banks. If Mystere ever gets to be a mentor, he would want to be like her.

I wish I read this when I first started out. I bought a boat load of credits... and my mentor was the kind that was never around, on the opposite time zone, doesn't like to log in, detests combat, and well... everything you don't want in a mentor. >_> A lot of much more active players regrettebly miss out on having me as their protege cause of that.

It's working out quite well. We're able to discuss how we want things to go and what would make things more interesting RP-wise. An element of surprise can be nice, but I think we've got a good thing going on.

I got lucky and found a super awesome mentor pretty quickly in the game. I'm circle 80, and probably past the point of needing one, but I still ask him questions from time to time and he's always available and willing to help. :)

I had an amazing mentor in Achaea and I've really lucked out with Haqikah's mentor but most of the alts I created ended up with one of the above mentors and I lost interest in the game after I reached level/circle 40 or so.

Having multiple proteges can be difficult when they all need attention and help. Sometimes it helps to get proteges who all have slightly different time zones so I'm never overwhelmed but I usually have at least one in the realms.

Mentors are often overlooked in their importance. A good mentor can hook a player into a MUD, especially if they player is a true newbie. A bad one will cause that same newbie to find another game.

I was very lucky in Achaea to have a wonderful mentor and although most people in Midkemia at the time could not mentor people (players we very new at that stage, needed to have played a set amount of time to mentor someone), I was lucky enough to have Orsyn and Aglaia come and hook me into MkO. :)

One of my alts has one of those, literally. Always fishing. They expressed that I could always message if I needed anything, but I hate the feeling that I'm bothering someone, which I get whenever I'd have to ask for something when they're on a boat offplane.

Honestly, I don't even remember who my mentor was back when I was a Sentinel.

That being said, I've had very few people ask me to be their mentor despite having been Head of Novices several times. I think this is just because of the insane nature of my schedule. I have turned down some, others that I've taken on I should have turned down. (I feel like a jerk saying 'no')

I like when houses ask if you would actually like to be a part of a mentor list, because this keeps me out of explaining that my times range so broadly that they might never see me again.

being as i know the perfect way to annoy my mentor into paying attention to me when I need him..but often all I have to do is complain enough OOC to him and he'll answer me, or I start sending lots of messages, since it plays a sound for him every time he gets one..

I typically make it clear to proteges that I will tell them how to obtain things or where best to hunt, but won't actually drag them hunting or give them free stuff. Some still say yes, so I guess I'm doing something right. I do feel sad when the nice ones doing quite well go dormant though.

I've had a couple of these...mostly the 'I don't have time' or 'I don't know what you expect me to do' types. More often I either get really good proteges who just start doing awesome and then they poof randomly forever with no warning. Or I get the occasional psycho one that I hadn't had time to get a feel for before I said yes and seriously regretted not saying no. Same as Nicia, I kinda feel like a jerk if I say no.

Ya, I gotta agree with Ashadra here. I've had a lot of em that seemed awesome at first then just started flipping out when I would tell them that their goals are something they needed to achieve on their own and I could only be a guide. It seems the ones that are actually great always lose interest in the game or something comes up.

I've grown jaded when it comes to mentors, as they never really speak to you afterwards. Just the occasional 'How are you?', which feels rather shallow. I don't like having them, but guilds and houses require them.

I would have to disagree with this, my mentor and I are still in communication and interact fairly regularly. It might help that he is also my in game father but still you get what I mean. I personally highly enjoy the thought of being able to be a mentor really soon and just hope I don't fit into one of the above categories

I enjoy mentoring folk. I guess that is part of why I rejoined houses in an ooc sense. I enjoy helping others in the day to day gaming. But in also I enjoy being in houses to learn things. Mentor role is HUGE to true novices who don't know what they're doing, because then they can get a view of what is to come, and get help getting there.

Mentoring new people is always a daunting task, if done appropriately. Firstly, ask yourself can I -be- a mentor? Naturally, you must have a sufficient knowledge of the CCG (Code, Combat, Geography). Secondly, you need to be active at least once a day, even if it is for a few hours. The messaging system allows mentors to council and answer questions through an email-like system, so time management can be flexible, but be careful of avoiding real interaction with your Protege`, these times are not only majorly vital to the develepment of their knowledges and skills, but it also reassures them that you -are- working. Thirdly, realize that being a mentor is not a gift. It is a huge responsibility that you are undertaking, so take it seriously.

Now, I realize this Digg is on the "Mentors to Avoid" however, ask yourself if you are looking for a mentor, does the mentor I have chosen match this criteria?

I try to be helpful as a mentor, but I also enjoy testing the novices - the interviews last longer with me, but I try to provide a lot of advice during the test. That way, the novice has two different points of view on things, and I thing it is profitable for them

My first mentor was awesome. He was adorable, the friendly but doddery old man type. He answered my questions with enthusiasm, though I surpassed him pretty quickly, and our roles were reversed. But he was cool :D

As a rule of thumb I make people who are to become my Protege wait at least 2 RL days before becoming my Protege. This is to see if our times will match, and if it is going to work out before any acceptance is made. Some people don't like this idea because they feel that they might miss on "benefits" of being a mentor. However, if you are only mentoring for the sake of the "benefits" you should take up fishing, it is more lucrative.

Having been round in an empty house and empty city, I understand that the game is more fun to play if more people are involved. Mentoring should be about people being involved. I think the 2 day rule help to ensure a good fit.

I'm lucky enough to where the mentor I found was kind of on accident, but he was still a good one. Unfortunately with my unpredictable schedule I'm not always the best protege whoops. On my end it sort of feels like the mentor/protege with him is pretty strong, even though he isn't in the same house, and the rp aspect there isn't too overbearing nor too lax for me to ignore it. As a player I'm usually pretty self-sufficient to where I can just look up information that I need, but Rygart's mentor is usually the first person he goes to in regards to advice/class skills/etc. It's been a pretty awesome experience so far, and I hope it continues to be so in the near future.

My mentor tends to be streaky when it comes to attendance. There'd be days when he'd be online almost all day, and then not at all. Right now, I think we're on different timezones, but he's there to answer most questions I have.

I remember that when I started I took my time to get to know everyone available to mentor in my House, but when I was ready the time limit had already passed. There are some that my character looks up to and will at times seek guidance from as an unofficial mentor type roll.

I've not had a protege in a very long time. It's not fair to take them on and I feel like a jerk every time I have to say no. I never even had an official one. My in game mother was my unofficial though and my house kind of all chipped in when I needed it which was cool.

My House has a HHELP where mentors can literaly write about themselves and what they specialise in so that novices can get a feel for the mentors as well as knowing what times the mentors are usually available. This helps our novices as we are not allowed to approach them about mentoring and the novices get to pick who they want to introduce themselves to.

I try not to be any of those mentors, though I'm sure I've made my mistakes. In my House, each novice has an official mentor, but they are also encouraged to seek help from the House as a whole which makes it easier on both protege and mentor.

Having one protege is nice, but I'm leery about it. After spending so much time and effort on them only to have them quit the guild or wind up joining the enemy, you get jaded. Yes, it's just a game, but the time and effort are real. How many times have I been really proud of my protege for working their way up a couple ranks only to have them toss the whole thing out the window to wander somewhere else.

There should be another mentor category - the "My guild doesn't exist" which is a subset of the missing/sleepy mentor. How many times have I unofficially mentored poor newbs wandering around lost because there was absolutely nobody in their guild online for days and days.

Imperian is the first MMO I've ever played, far less the first Iron Realms game. I'd never played anything via text-only, at least in real time, and I found myself wandering uselessly and frustratingly around for a long time. I often cursed that no one even mentioned the mentor system to me until long after I'd played too many hours to qualify for a mentor, and had played enough to BE a mentor myself (Which in fairness, happened in the first few days while I was too wrapped up in roleplay to bother with my novicehood requirements at first).

I often chose to acknowledge three individuals as my mentors in different aspects, those who I started playing alongside when my character was very young and didn't really let go of fully until she'd learned past what they could teach her, or they fell to the inactivity that happens after a few years.

I had never thought of the idea there could be worse experiences, especially for those who weren't as interested in taking their time as much as I did. I admit, I like to wander on my own sometimes. I think it would be far more frustrating to have ambition to proceed, but run into walls of a mentor's inactivity, or disconnect. I think having a bad mentor (Or just an inoptimum mentor) is worse than having the opportunity for three unofficial ones.

I must say my own mentor has offered me plenty of RP, and stood by me during my entire introduction into the game. Looking back, I have no regrets, though he might show some tendencies of a 'protege horder'.

Someone earlier mentioned a 5-types of proteges to avoid post that would be nice.. I agree with the idea of actually having a legitimate post with info just like that.. Would really come in handy for HoNs or people who just enjoy belong newbies.

I managed to get two mentors instead of just one - an official Achaea mentor, and a house mentor. One's kinda sleepy but does appear randomly and is still super helpful in spite of his regular absence, and the other was originally almost an opposite time zone thing (enough overlapping time that it wasn't an issue, thankfully!), but now my schedule's completely different so it might be less of a problem now (I hope).

I disagree with most of this article. This is one of my pet peaves about how players ruin the mentorship aspect of the game. A mentor doesn't have to be tech support (other players can pick up that role). A mentor doesn't have to be in your guild (other players are in your guild). A mentor doesn't have to be your hunting partner (I'd argue that most great mentors probably won't be).

All I want from a mentor is someone I can touch base with and keep me from doing something overly stupid.

I totally agree but in terms of mentors I don't wanna name mine but I do think it was a poor choice, In my times there was no blademaster in my house who showed up too much during the time I was around, so I picked a famous monk who was actually around at almost any time I checked HWHO, bad thing is he is such a big hunter-combatant-raider that he is always busy for anything related to proteges, then he left the city and his excuse now is that he will only ever help me if I go to his city (and if you (you know who you are) are reading this Yes you know it is true!), so yeah careful with the big names for mentors :(

In terms of proteges... I don't have too many but I really care about the few I have (Hello to you guys if you are reading this :) ) but I really agree with Lacertix's comment hehe I have seen it a lot even with novices I don't mentor